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NATURE NOTES. 
SOME LONDON BIRDS. 
HE following is a list of the birds noticed by myself or 
by my brothers and sisters in London during the past 
few years. It is the result of observations made 
chiefly in Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, and I 
have purposely excluded the species noticed in any parks on the 
outskirts of the town. Of course had these latter species been 
included, together with those recorded in the various news- 
papers and magazines, this list could have been increased 
enormously ; but even as it stands it shows that a considerable 
variety of birds may be seen in the heart of London, and 
possibly may stimulate some readers of “Nature Notes” to 
make regular observations. 
Most of the birds to be seen in our London parks are 
migrants. Migration proper is an annual movement towards a 
colder region in spring, and a warmer one in winter^ Some 
birds (such as the cuckoo) visit us only in spring ; others (such 
as the fieldfare) only in winter. Whether a bird is a summer 
or a winter visitor to England depends on the position of our 
island in the range of the species in question; thus we are in the 
northern portion of the geographical range of the swallow, and 
so the swallow is a summer visitor. 
But besides migration, properly so-called, there is another 
kind of movement which is not regular annual and hereditary, 
but entirely dependent on local conditions, and which affects 
only the birds in a particular locality, and not the whole or a 
great portion of a given species. This may be called local or 
special migration, and it is well illustrated by the flocking of 
many birds into towns for the sake of warmth and food during 
hard frosts. London is very warm, and in cold winters we see a 
good many of these local migrants in our parks. Meadow pipits, 
for instance, make their appearance on such occasions and large 
quantities of larks. 
Very few of the summer migratory birds which visit London 
stop with us ; they mostly take but a few hours’ rest and then 
continue their journey further inland. There is a regular 
stream of migration up the Thames valley every spring, for 
birds when travelling make great use of natural landmarks, and 
valleys are to them very much w T hat roads are to us. It is a 
great pity that more people do not notice and report the first 
appearances of these spring visitors, for it is a very interesting 
subject, and were a regular chain of observers established the 
course of migratory birds up a valley like that of the Thames 
could be accurately traced. 
In the following catalogue I have confined my remarks to 
wild birds, no mention being made of ornamental or domesticated 
species, for these alone would make a long list. It will also be 
noticed that owing to absence from town during August and 
September no observations are recorded during those months. 
